Greetings All You Mini Guru's.
I bought an old Rokkee dash for my 850 as a template. I want to reproduce a new one. It's the three peice with two glove doors. I'm not a wood veneer fan. Does anyone know who sells "burl Walnut" (gloss) laminex or thin plastic type sheet to finish it off? I've tried all the kitchen shops, Caravan dealers etc. (I'll log on tomorrow, as I have an early trip, I gotta sleep) Thanks to any responses.
Alex.

Have you tried Mr ply and wood?

www.misterplywood.com.au

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Ryan Filippi
Minis In The Gong
[email protected]
www.minisinthegong.com.au

Spoke to a guy a few years back that had a factory in Airport West (Melbourne) - but unfortunately time has erased the business name from my memory Actually met him at a home show where he was advertising his bendy printing on household items.

Anyway... he had a machine that printed anything you wanted onto the surface of water then when you dipped your any-shape article in it the printing would transfer to that. He had the contract back then to "print" all the walnut panels for Ford.

Maybe a nice burle walnut finish with a small BMC rosette in the corner of each glovebox

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So let me get this straight, you don't like real wood, you want to stick some fake plastic wood on there instead?

I don't like to be rude, but its not sounding very classy.

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

try Europa spares - uk
they sell blanks

Thanks for the replies. Just got home from riverland trip. It's not that I dont like wood, it's just that I want a hard, shinny scratch resistant finish which wont shrink, crack or fade. The old one I bought has extra holes everywhere (I think he was a guage salesman!) And to finish it off, he painted F/G resin over it.

I'll keep searching. Thanks for feedback. I hope to be up and running for the Adelaide Birdwood event later this year.
Alex.

Try http://www.dashoriginal.com.au/

They do timber veneer and also the american "plastic" woodgrain.

Also the HQ holden woodgrain dash.

Is that Mini's at the Mill or Bay to Birdwood?
I did B2B last yr and I thought the classic event was every two years? that must mean it is the vintage turn this year?

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For a DIY solution, how about enviroven man made veneer,


coated with envirotex pour on finish?


Enviroven is very flat and uniform and won't split like real veneer, but is made of wood and has the appearance of depth (chatoyancy) that real wood has. Envirotex puts on a very hard crystal clear gloss finish a couple of mm deep. I don't know how well it would stand up to UV in a car, but the same would be true of any other domestic product like laminex.

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

TIM. Thanks for suggestion. Walter thanks also.
1310'71, I belive its Mini's at the Mill. Your right, B2B is next year (2011) If I'm not finished for that, I'll walk it!!!!


Cheers
Alex.

hi Alex
I will be interested to see how you go with your dash.
All the veneer is flacking off mine.
I took it to a local cabinet maker and he wasnt to confident about reproducing the curve with with veneer.
so i am still looking for ways to do it myself.

I built one to that style several years ago and finished it in iron on blackwood veneer. My radius was a bit greater than yours and I did have trouble getting the veneer to curve around it. If I did another one I'd either use a different grain direction so that it was curving in the natural direction or track down some of that enviroven, which has shorter grain and will curve more easily. Alternatively a normal veneer (not iron on) would probably be able to be steamed around the curve.

I finished mine with estapol and it lasted very well and looked great (except for the small patch of broken grain around the curve).

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

Interesting indeed! I have the same style (came in bits with my car), although I appear to be missing the centre panel

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That is the sort of thing that http://www.dashoriginal.com.au/ will fix. (thanks for the link Walter)
Moriarti, I have a dash the same and could trace out a template of the centre bit for you. You could cut it out of ply and then get someone like dashoriginal to apply the veneer to the whole dash.
They are actually supposed to be a five piece dash, they should be two little bits that cover the gap each side where it joins the pillar.

Actually those "little bits in the corner " used to be filled with a piece of black vinyl that attached to the back of the dash and then wrapped around the metal edge of the door opening under the rubber door seal.

Cheers, Ian